Star Crossed
by Queen Of Gabb 488
Summary: Hiatus-Almost twenty years after Cassie left Chance Harbor, her daughter Celeste returns to her great grandmother's house and the protection of a new guardian. While learning more about her heritage, she uncovers secrets from her mother's past.
1. Chapter 1

Celeste stepped out from behind the driver's side and shut her car door shut. Long blond hair flew in the wind as she walked up to the sign reading 'Welcome to Chance Harbor.' Placing a hand on the wood sign, Celeste could imagine her mother here twenty years earlier.

She hadn't wanted to come, but there was no choice now. Her great grandmother's house had been left to her and Celeste couldn't let the old homestead be abandoned. It had meant being uprooted right before her senior year and missing out on all the school traditions she had been looking forward to but it had to be done.

Her shoes stepped over brittle grass and hard dirt as she made her way back to her car. It was obvious that the town was going through a drought, and as she continued to drive toward her new home, all Celeste could think was that she could use a little rain herself.

* * *

><p>"Is that her?" They were sitting at the outside café when Faye noticed the dead ringer for Cassie Blake.<p>

"It sure looks just like her," Diana said. "I can't believe how long it's been since the last time we all saw Cassie."

"Well, what are you going to do," Melissa asked Faye. "Do you want to go see her before school or are you going to wait until her first day is over?"

"I hadn't really decided," Faye drawled out. "I mean, I'm more than a little surprised that Cassie would make me her guardian. Especially since you were her best friends," she told Diana.

"Yeah, well that was also a long time ago," Diana reiterated. "What do you think you want to do?"

"I guess I'll give her some time to adjust to the house and the town before I assault her. Besides, it's not like we won't see her at school," Faye reminded them and pushed her food around with her fork.

"Just try to be nice to her," Melissa said. "We all know how you and Cassie got along," Melissa got up and took some bills from her purse, throwing them on the table before she left for work.

Diana got up next and stared Faye down. "Try to act like her guardian, please," the brunette begged. "We all know what kind of power she has and we need you to keep her in control," she reminded Faye.

"Do you not see the irony in what you just said," Faye asked.

"Please," the other woman pleaded. "Keep an eye out for her," and walked away, leaving Faye with a snarky look on her face.

* * *

><p>Celeste walked down the hall looking to see if she could find her locker and spotted it right next to a tall, dark and handsome stranger. Walking up, she began turning the lock to her combination. Yanking, the lock refused to budge at her touch.<p>

"Do you need help with that," the stranger asked.

Looking up, Celeste could see that his eyes were green with the tiniest specks of gold in them. "Um, sure," she managed to mumble. "Thanks, that would be great," the girl smiled.

Twisting the lock, he pulled and the lock sprung open. "Glad to be of assistance. I'm Greyson," he said holding out his hand. "You must be Celeste."

"Actually… yes. I guess everyone knows who I am, even though I don't know them," she wagered.

"Well, your Mom was really good friends with my parents and some of the teacher's here. Most people remember her from when she moved here after your grandmother died. She kind of made a splash," he explained.

"I don't know if that's a good thing or not," she laughed.

"Well, I've got to go to class, but why don't you stop by the boathouse after school? A lot of us hang out there and I can introduce you to everyone."

A smile spread across her face. "Yeah, that sounds great. I'll see you there."

Closing her locker, Celeste smiled to herself. "This might not be so bad," she said and headed toward homeroom.

* * *

><p>Greyson walked up to Margaux and Phoebe. "Boathouse after school," he told them.<p>

"Like that's new," Margaux groaned. "We go there every day," she bitched.

"Yeah, but we don't have our sixth with us every day," he responded.

Phoebe immediately perked up. "She's here? I didn't think she'd be here until next week. Who starts school in the middle of the week," she asked.

"Well, apparently she does," Margaux said unimpressed with the newest member of their clique.

"Just be there," he bit out between grinding teeth. "Tell the others!"

"Uh, what has his panties in a twist?" Margaux slammed her locker closed. "He's your boyfriend, can't you make him chill out?"

"Just leave him alone," Phoebe said. "I'll see you at your dad's place. See you later," she said and left for first period.

* * *

><p>Celeste finished her day and was excited that she had made friends so quickly. Getting to the boathouse was her number one priority, if only to see Greyson again.<p>

It seemed like the cool place to hang out in town and she recognized some of the kids from school. Walking up she found Greyson hanging out on the deck.

"Hey," he said smiling at her. "You're the first one here. I'm just waiting on a few more friends to introduce you to."

"Oh, well maybe I met them today. Who are they?"

"Phoebe, my girlfriend," he said missing the look of disappointment on her face, "and her best friend Margaux; her dad owns the place."

"Really? That's cool. At least she has a place to throw a party," Celeste said looking around the place.

"Yeah," he laughed. "Then there's Mark; he's my best friend but he and Phoebe don't get along."

"That has to suck," Celeste said, "having a girlfriend and a best friend that can't stand each other."

"Yeah, but I think it has more to do with the fact that Mark and Margaux have this on again off again thing going on and Phoebe is really protective of her."

"Is that the whole gang?"

"No, there's one more. He's kind of like the Karen of our group," he joked.

"There's always a Karen," Celeste said.

Laughing, Greyson pointed to a kid walking towards them. "And there he is. Hey, Nick. How's it going?"

Nick walked up, hands dug tightly into the pockets of his leather jacket. "Hey, Celeste. What's up?"

"You two know each other?" Greyson looked back and forth between the two.

"No," Celeste answered. "We've yet to have met."

Nick gave her a sly look. "No, we haven't met, but everyone knows the new girl in town." Leaning down to stoop to her height, he said, "Everyone knows the new girl in Chance Harbor."

"Why don't we go inside and wait for the others," Grey said. "It looks like it might rain."

Nick glanced at the over cast skies and laughed. "Well, maybe the drought is about to end," he said looking deeply into Celeste's eyes.

"I wouldn't count on it," she said trying to send him a message. "It doesn't feel like there's any humidity in the air."

"Then we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?"

Grey walked past Nick and put a hand on Celeste's back, guiding her inside the restaurant. "Do you see what I mean about him being the Karen of our group," he whispered.

"Oh, yeah," she answered. "He's kind of a douche."

* * *

><p>"Maggie!"<p>

Margaux stopped in her tracks. Turning back, she stalked toward her father in her black fish net tights and combat boots. "How many times do I need to tell you that it's Margaux," the teen demanded.

"You're always going to be my Maggie," Adam told her. "What's going on? Is it Mark again?"

"No," she drawled out staring at her nails. "I have to go meet the Scooby gang," she whined. "The new girl showed up today and Grey and Phoebe are planning her initiation into the group."

"Celeste is here? Have you met her," he asked his daughter.

"Um, no. That's where I'm going now." Margaux seemed to brighten up and she looked at her father with a big, rotten smile on her face. "Didn't you use to be in love with her mom, or was that Grey's mom? I can never remember the difference?"

"Margaux, stop it. That has nothing to do with—"

"The reason why mom left? Yeah, right."

"Maggie!"

"Bye, dad. I got to go," she said sauntering out of their apartment.

Adam looked at his daughter as she walked away. Holding his head in his hands, Adam wondered how his life turned out this way.

* * *

><p>Jake walked into the boathouse. It had been an unspoken thing between him and Adam that he wouldn't come around here in the years since Cassie took off. Still, the appearance of her daughter Celeste changed things and here he was.<p>

"What are you doing here," Adam asked as every part of him tensed up.

"Just thought I'd come see Celeste, ask about her mother. You know, things ended pretty badly between us. I never got a chance to find out how she was."

"Like you really wanted to," Adam responded. "I can't even blame you for not looking for her," he said, for the first time feeling sympathy for his fellow circle member. "Not after she—"

"I don't want to talk about that," Jake said. "I just want to make sure that what happened to the last two circles doesn't happen to the kids."

Adam nodded. "We've been training our kids at home. They know the basics, which is a lot more than what we had when we were there ages."

"I still think we need to be more proactive with them," Jake said, "training them together, one circle to another."

"Well, I guess we can talk to the girls about it. I don't know how they'll feel about it but it's worth a try. I'll invite them to dinner here tomorrow," Adam said pouring Jake a drink. "It feels weird calling the circle together without her," he said.

Jake downed his drink. "She's the one who left," he reminded Adam. "I've gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow," he said. Walking past Nick, he clapped him on the back. "See you at home," he told his son.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing. As for what parent belongs to what kid, Adam is Margaux's father; Faye is Mark's mother; Diana is Grey's mother; Cassie is obviously Celeste's mother; Jake is Nick's father; and Melissa is Phoebe's mother. As far as any potential siblings in the circle, make sure to keep an eye out in the future. I'm not revealing anything quite yet.

* * *

><p>Faye walked down the hall to the main office, her cup of coffee the only thing she was paying attention to as she responded to the principles summoning.<p>

"Faye," the other woman said. "Come in," she said guiding the femme fatale to a seat. "Have you decided what you're going to do yet?"

"No, Diana. I haven't. Didn't we just talk about this at breakfast?" Faye threw herself in her chair, playing at the hem of her skirt which was just shy of being too short.

"I know," Diana said sitting down across from her reluctant friend. "But it might be nice if you and Mark made an effort to really invite her into your family. Without Cassie and Jane, the girl is alone."

"Do you think I don't know that," Faye responded. "But it isn't like she doesn't have the circle."

"Yes, but it will take time for her to bond with the others and let's face it," Diana said. "The circle reminds me a little too much of us. Even though most of the kids have grown up with each other and they know about the circle, there's a lot of feuding going on inside."

"Yeah, well if Celeste is anything like her mother than she'll make friends in no time," Faye said snidely and got up from her chair. Almost at the door, she heard Diana's last words of the conversation.

"She's your niece, Faye. Try to remember that."

* * *

><p>Phoebe walked with Celeste. They had left the others behind at the boathouse, since Mark and Grey were heading back to school for practice and Margaux wasn't exactly the friendliest member of the circle.<p>

Phoebe was still trying to gauge how Celeste would respond to the news that they were witches. While the five of them had grown up in Chance Harbor with their parents teaching them the craft, Celeste had been born on Long Island. Cassie had fled the circle and nothing had been the same for everyone she had left behind.

"Well, here it is," Celeste said. "I stopped by this morning to drop everything off and I didn't want to unpack the car so I walked to school."

"Are you excited to have the house all to yourself," Phoebe asked.

Celeste looked at her new friend, who looked exactly like her mother Melissa. "I guess. It's weird, not having Grandma Jane around or my Mom."

"Yeah, but you'll have Faye and Mark."

"Yeah, I guess. I've never spent any time with them, though. It's weird having an Aunt that I've never met," the seventeen year old said. "Let alone a cousin."

"Yeah," Phoebe said. "I would murder him in ten seconds flat if I were related to him."

"Wouldn't you do that anyway," Celeste asked. "I heard that he's kind of a tool."

"I don't know what Margaux sees in him. I think it's just the idea of a bad boy/bad girl duo that does it for her. God knows there's nothing else for him to offer."

"Girls," Faye said walking up behind them. "How are you doing today," she asked with her patented disdainful smile.

"Faye," Phoebe smiled nervously, not knowing if she had heard her talking about her son. "Well, I'd better be getting home," she said and waved to Celeste. "I'll see you at school."

Celeste turned to Faye. "Hi, Aunt Faye. I didn't know when you would be coming by."

"Well, I thought since it was your first day in Chance Harbor that I could take you around town," the Thirty-nine year old said. "I can show you all the cool places to go when you ditch school."

"Sounds interesting," Celeste said, "but I just started school here. I don't know if I want to start ditching classes just yet."

"So like your mother," Faye said to herself, tapping her fingers against her coffee. "Why don't you go put your stuff away? Mark's going to be with Grey all night and it will give us a chance to get to know each other."

"Okay then. I'll be out in two minutes." Celeste jogged up the steps and climbed the stairs to her room.

Taking the book of shadows out of her back pack, she jammed it into to hiding spot in the molding of the fireplace along with the Balcoin medallion and spelled it shut just in case the house had any visitors.

* * *

><p>Nick strolled in to his house, throwing his bag on the couch. Almost two years older than the rest of the group, he was going to a community college and living at home with his dad.<p>

Taking the stairs two at a time, he launched onto his bed and kicked his shoes off. He hated waking up for eight am classes but his dad had insisted on his schedule working around the high school. Considering how his dad ostracized himself from his own circle it was weird how much emphasis he put on Nick being tight with his own.

He closed his eyes, trying to sleep his way through the latest on goings of the circle. One day he was going to get out of this town, just like Cassie Blake had; just like his mother had done when he was just a baby. When he did there was no way in hell he was ever coming back.

* * *

><p>Margaux met Phoebe, Grey and Mark at the Blackwell house that their parents had claimed decades earlier. "Where's Nick," she asked.<p>

"Why do you care," Mark said coming up behind her and kissing her neck.

"The circle is here, right? He should be here," she bitched.

"Well, I personally am glad not to have him around," Grey said. "He was really creepy with Celeste earlier. He's going to ruin this whole thing."

"She's going to join," Phoebe said. "I think she'll be cool with it. I mean, she doesn't have her mother or Jane and the only adult in her life is Faye. She's going to need the friends here and we're the obvious choice."

"What's wrong with my mom," Mark asked with dark eyes. He hated the way Phoebe made comments about him and his mom, like she was so much better.

"She isn't exactly Betty Crocker," Margaux told him, taking her friends side. "So when do we tell her that she's a –"

"Witch?"

The group turned to stare at the blond who had walked in when they weren't looking. "Don't look too surprised," Celeste told them.

"But how do you know," Grey asked.

"My mother told me."

* * *

><p>Jake walked up to the boathouse and was met by Faye who was leaning against the rail. "I'm guessing that's not just coffee in that mug," he leaned in as if sharing a secret with his old flame. "Are the spouses here too or is it just strictly circle members?"<p>

Grinning, Faye swept her long dark curls away from her face. "Well, as we all know you and Adam ran your significant others out of town," she said aiming at her ex with a low blow, "And as far as Melissa's and Diana's husbands they're still at the shop on Main."

"Hey guys," Adam said hanging on to the door. "Dinner is ready."

Faye and Jake followed him in, where Diana and Melissa were gossiping about the latest faculty scandal.

"Jake," Diana smiled and walked over to give him a hug. "How's everything going with Nick? Has he decided on a major?"

"That kid? No, I'm just happy that he's agreed to go to school. I had to fight him tooth and nail just to get him to agree to go to community college."

Dianna rubbed a hand up and down his arm in a comforting manner. "It'll be okay, Jake. He'll get where he needs to be eventually."

"Yeah," Melissa chimed in. "You have to remember that he's had it the roughest of the kids. His mom skipped out on him before he was old enough to remember her, he's older than the rest of the kids so they don't really hang out with him as much. He just needs to find something that he loves and things will start to get better."

"I thought we were here to discuss Cassie Blake's progeny," Faye said putting a shrimp into her mouth. "You know, you're a better cook than your dad was," she told Adam.

Jake held out a chair for Faye with a look of disbelief on his face. Not disbelief in Faye's rotten attitude and treatment of the group, but disbelief in his own hopes that after almost twenty years she might have grown into a better person. Wishful thinking, he supposed.

"Actually," Adam started, "Jake and I were talking earlier—"

"You two," Faye asked pointing a finger back and forth between them. "That's a laugh," she said knocking back her coffee.

"And what we were thinking," he went on giving Faye the evil eye, "is that we should be more proactive about teaching them the craft as a circle, instead of just parent to child."

Diana nodded. "That makes sense. I mean, they already know the basics and if we were there to teach them than we would be able to keep an eye out for them, which is more than what we had."

"If we had only known what Dawn and Charles were up to," Melissa laughed, "but then again we wouldn't have been such easy prey."

"Are you still bitter about the whole Nick thing," Faye asked. "Because technically it was Cassie's fault for unleashing that demon," she reminded the group.

"But if Dawn and Charles hadn't brought Cassie here it would never have happened," Adam said.

"And we wouldn't have a full circle," Diana reminded them. "I am by no means defending what they did; killing Amelia in order to bring Cassie back, but it happened and while some bad things happened to us because of it, some really good stuff happened too."

"How did things go with Celeste," Adam asked Faye.

"The little witch is just like her mother," she answered. "So keeping an eye on the circle is probably a good move. When do we tell the kids?"

"Let's tell them Monday," Diana suggested. "No reason to ruin the upcoming weekend. I think we can all wait five days. Everyone agree?"


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Thank you so much for reading and reviewing! Please continue, I love the feedback. This is the first story I'm writing for The Secret Circle so I'm glad you enjoy reading it. Here's the breakdown of everyone's ages.

Phoebe is seventeen going on eighteen and is a senior.

Grey is seventeen going on eighteen and is a senior.

Mark is seventeen going on eighteen and is a senior.

Celeste is seventeen going on eighteen and is a senior.

Margaux is the youngest of the group at sixteen and is a junior.

Nick is the oldest of the group at eighteen going on nineteen and is a freshman at the community college.

* * *

><p>Phoebe looked stunned. The last thing she had expected was for Celeste to know about the circle. Like everyone else, she had assumed that Cassie would have left that part out like her mother before her.<p>

"Have you been trained," Grey asked. He was extremely curious about the blond ever since running into her at school that morning. She must know the basics if she knew about the Blackwell house, which meant that she wasn't unprotected like the kids had thought she was.

"Yes. Since I was little," she explained, walking closer to the group. Hands in her pocket, she strutted forward and her boots clicked against the hardwood floors. All of a sudden she wasn't the sweet, naïve girl that they had made her out to be in their heads. Celeste seemed powerful and competent.

"My mother didn't want me to be blindsided like she was when my Grandmother was killed in the fire that Charles started. I've always known, since I was little. Mom's main concern was making sure I learned the craft in a controlled environment."

"Did Jane know," Phoebe asked.

"Grandma Jane knew," Celeste confirmed. "She would come out during the summers and help Mom train me."

"Why did your Mom take you to Long Island," her cousin asked. "Wasn't she originally from California?"

"I guess Mom wanted to be near Grandma Jane and the circle, just in case anything ever came up. Besides, Long Island also has a history of Witch Trials and I guess Mom wanted to be somewhere of significance."

"So where is your mom," Margaux asked. "She just let you come here all alone? Doesn't sound that great to me," she remarked.

Celeste looked at Margaux, her lips pulling back into a slick smile and her eyes narrowing. "_My_ mom is a professor of female literature and occult practices. She's on study abroad with an anthropology team right now in Europe, but don't worry. Mom will be taking sabbatical next semester to come here," rubbing it in the younger girl's face that her mother was still around.

Margaux grimaced as if she had been sucker punched. She didn't like this girl; who was she to come into the circle and act like she owned it? She didn't care if Celeste was a Blake. As far as she was concerned this was Phoebe's circle to run.

"Besides," Celeste continued, "Long Island has a huge wiccan community so Mom was able to build a support group there instead of having to hide our practicing."

"So Cassie is coming back," Adam said. The kids turned to see Margaux's dad standing in the entrance.

"Dad, what are you doing here?"

"Well, I just came from having dinner with all of your parents," he explained. Looking around, he noticed one of the kids missing. "Where's Nick?"

"Not here," Margaux pointed out rudely. She was still kind of pissed that he was ditching the circle just when the new girl was coming around. "Why did you come here?"

"Well, we all agreed that we need to take your training to the next level. You all know the basics but you guys don't do much circle magic, so we're going to start meeting with you as a whole."

"Starting when," Phoebe asked, apparently the only one who was eager about this.

"Well, Diana wanted to wait to tell you guys until next week but Jake pushed for this weekend."

In the past two decades Adam and Jake had spent most of their time avoiding each other and simply putting up with one another when they had to interact for the circle. While Jake had proved himself to the circle, changing his ways and seemingly becoming a better person, Adam had stopped hating him for their shared past and had started hating him for loving the same woman as he had.

After losing Diana, Adam had tried to take his Dad's advice to not go against fate. Something had drawn him to Cassie but her friendship with Diana had kept them apart just long enough for her to develop feelings for Jake. It was like their parents all over again, with Cassie choosing the member of the circle that held the most potential for darkness other than herself.

"But the senior ball is this weekend," Phoebe said. "It's the first dance of senior year that sets up all of the senior activities."

"I still need to find a dress," Margaux told her best friend.

"Um, you're not going," Adam told her. "You're a junior."

"Mark's going to take me," she said fighting her father.

"Um," Mark said standing up. "I promised my Mom that I would hang out with Celeste. She wasn't registered when the invites went out and since it's her senior year Mom thought it would be nice if I took her."

"And you were going to tell me when," she demanded, hating the blond even more.

"You can still go to the ball," Adam told the others. "We'll start Saturday at noon."

Adam turned to Celeste, "Has your mother given you her book of shadows," he asked. "We all have ours but yours is the most complete."

"No, Mom likes to keep that close to her body, but I started my own," she said and was surprised to see looks of shock on everyone's faces. "What?"

"You started your own book of shadows," Phoebe asked. "Can we do that," she asked Adam.

"I don't see why not," he said. "It's how all of ours were started. I'd really like to see that sometime," he turned to Celeste.

"I'll bring it Saturday," Celeste said.

* * *

><p>Adam had left and Phoebe and Grey had left together, leaving Mark, Celeste and Margaux in the abandoned house.<p>

"You're not going to that ball," Margaux told her. "I mean, it's just pathetic to go with your cousin," she swiped at the other girl. "Besides, you don't belong here so what does it matter to you," Margaux asked.

"Hey, that's my cousin," Mark said stepping in.

"Like you really care," Margaux responded. "And what, you choose now to have loyalty to someone? You're choosing the wrong person."

"Yeah, well blood is thicker than water," Celeste said. "Besides, I had to give up my senior year back home to come back here so I'm going to that dance," she stuck up for herself. "It's not like you won't get a chance to go next year."

"If you take her over me, we're over," she told Mark.

The boy stood tall at six foot one, his midnight black hair just a little too long and hitting just below his ears. "Then I guess we're over," he told the sixteen year old. "So long," Mark said and guided Celeste out of the abandoned house.

"Come on," Margaux heard him say. "Mom's ordering take out for your first night here."

Left alone in the abandoned house, Margaux held back her tears. There was no way she was letting that bitch take her place in the circle.

* * *

><p>Jake knocked on Nick's door and didn't wait for an answer before entering. Finding his son asleep, he went over to him and nudged him awake.<p>

Nick rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. "What?"

"It's only nine o'clock. How long have you been sleeping?"

"Um, since like six o'clock," he answered.

"Okay, get up," he told his son. "You're not gonna be able to sleep later and you have class tomorrow morning."

"Leave me alone," he groaned and rolled over.

Jake leaned down and pulled the blanket, causing Nick to fall on the floor. "Get your ass downstairs. Now."

* * *

><p>"Hey! Stop stealing my ice cream," Phoebe said, twisting her body to keep Grey from taking her Scout mint chocolate.<p>

"But it's so good! Here, you can have some of my strawberry," he said trying to swipe some of hers.

"Ew! Who likes strawberry," she asked. "Not you," Phoebe joked, "or you wouldn't be stealing my chocolate!"

"Strawberry is delicious. I can't help it if I'm craving some chocolate," Grey grinned, stopping to pull her close and kiss her.

As she was kissing him, she started to slowly stretch her arm away from his creeping hands. Pulling away, she hopped down the street only stopping to turn and look at him before taking another spoonful of her ice cream.

"Oh, so that's how it's going to be," he asked before sprinting after her.

She screamed and started running, only for him to catch her around the waist.

* * *

><p>Diana sat in her office at her home with old scrapbooks spread over her desk. It seemed like yesterday when Cassie had come pounding at her door, completely soaked from the down pour she had run through.<p>

"_Cassie, is everything alright," she asked her before ushering her inside. _

"_I need your help, Diana," the twenty-one year old said. "You're the only one that I could think of coming to. I can't even go to my Grandma," she told her. _

"_What's wrong," Diana asked, rubbing her hands against her protruding belly. _

"_I made a really big mistake," the blond told her. _

Throwing down a picture that had been taken of them at Diana's engagement party, she couldn't help but wonder if it was wrong of her to have kept her best friend's secret. Then again, she had been asking that question everyday for the past nineteen years.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** THANK YOU for reading and reviewing. I 3 it when I get feedback. It feeds the ego and the inspiration. I'm going to try and make a mini profile of the cast on my fanfic profile so you can look at pictures to see the characters how I see them in my head. Hopefully it will be up within the next day or so. I hope you like this chapter and hopefully I will be able to keep updating so quickly.

* * *

><p>"So Margaux," Celeste drawled out. "How did that happen," she asked Mark.<p>

They were sitting on the steps of Celeste's house waiting for the delivery guy to show up,while Faye yelled at Mark's dad over the phone.

"Well, Grey and Phoebe starting hooking up, and Phoebe and Maggie are best friends. Plus she's kind of hot so I figured what the hell," he said clapping one hand over the other's fist. "We hang out, make out a little; sometimes go to dances as a double date. Keeps me from having to actually start a real relationship. It worked for a while."

"Until she wanted the real thing," Celeste inferred.

"Sounds about right." Mark sighed loudly and leaned back on the steps, bracing himself on his forearms. "She's kind of a bitch."

"I was gonna say," Celeste joked. "What's her damage?"

Mark looked at her from the corner of his eye before turning to look her in the face. "Do you really wanna know?" When Celeste nodded he continued. "Did your mom ever say anything about Adam Conant?"

"Margaux's dad? No, why?"

"So, the six families that were responsible for finding Chance Harbor and make up the circle go way back obviously. It's supposedly written in the stars that members of the Conant and the Blake families are destined for one another. And when people decide to mess with fate—"

"Bad things happen," Celeste half-whispered. "My mom used to say that to me all the time."

"Yeah, well, with the whole love triangle of Diana-Adam-Cassie and then Adam-Cassie-Jake and Cassie-Jake-Faye things got really incestuous in the circle."

"Whose Jake," Celeste answered. "Adam mentioned him earlier."

"You met Nick earlier, right?" When she nodded, he laughed. "Jake is Nick's father. They're kind of the outsiders of the group."

"Is Jake half as creepy as his son? Nick seemed like such an ass earlier."

"Nah, that's just Nick. He doesn't really warm up to people because people don't usually give him a chance. "

Celeste stared at him for a minute. "You know, you're not the bad guy everyone makes you out to be. I kind of thought I'd be spending my time with a dick cousin and regretting my choice to come live here," she admitted.

Mark let out a roar. "You know, I thought I'd be saddled with some goody two shoes who wouldn't know real magic if it zapped her in the ass. Glad to know that first impressions aren't always right."

The delivery guy walked up the path with a big box of Chinese food. Celeste handed him the money; "Keep the change," she said, grabbing the box and followed Mark into the house.

"You know," Faye said, "It's a good thing I like you kid," to Mark. "Otherwise I would be going to the past and killing your father before he had a chance to glance at me for the first time."

"Uh oh," Mark pretended to whisper to Celeste. "Mom and Dad are fighting again. Why don't they ever think about the kids," he pretended to cry.

"Shut up," Faye said, "and eat your food. I did just go through the hassle of putting food on the table."

"You ordered out," Celeste said, "and technically I was the one who put the call through. You just circled your order on the menu."

"Oh, joy," Faye said with mock excitement. "You really are just like my sister. We're going to have to change that. What are you wearing to the dance," she asked.

"Um, something," the teen answered. "I hadn't gotten around to unpacking yet."

"Well," Faye said with a false look of sweetness on her face, "if I know your mother than your wardrobe is full of clothes a nun wouldn't be caught wearing. You're with me now, kid. I'll take you shopping after school tomorrow and get you something that won't make people remember that you're showing up with your cousin."

Mark choked on his soda. "Um, Mom? Remember when you asked me to remind you that you're a parent? I think this is one of those times you need reminding," he told his Mom.

"Oh, hush. What good is having my niece around if I can't corrupt her a little bit," Faye asked.

Mark and Celeste shared glances over the table. This was certainly going to be interesting.

* * *

><p>Celeste was in fourth period Thursday when she was called to the main office. "Aunt Faye, what's going on?"<p>

"You and I are playing hooky," a smile plastered across Faye's face. "I have a sub covering my classes and I just signed you out for the day. How about we go to the mall and find you a dress for the ball?"

Celeste thought about the quiz she had next period and then decided not to worry about it. "Okay," she said, "but you have to tell me something."

They walked out the double doors and Faye dug up her car keys. "What do you wanna know?"

"Well, Mark was telling me about why Margaux's such a bitch and he mentioned something about my mom and Adam but he didn't get to finish telling me about it."

Faye let out a giant cackle. "Well, if you really must know…"

* * *

><p>Melissa and Diana were eating lunch in the teachers' lounge sixth period. At thirty-nine years old, the two were as close as they were as teenagers.<p>

After they graduated high school, the circle had decided to stay on the East Coast for college. Cassie had been accepted to Columbia, while Diana had chosen Sarah Lawrence. Melissa had stayed close to home and attended Washington University, and Faye had gone as far away as possible while keeping the promise of staying on the east coast; choosing to attend the University of Florida.

The boys were different. Adam stayed in town, taking business and culinary courses at the community college so he could take over the boathouse. Jake was four years older, and since leaving home to join the witch hunters, had never pursued school. Still, when Cassie left for Columbia he had decided to make some changes.

_Everything had gone to hell_, Diana thought, _but back then we all thought we were going to get happily ever after. _

"Where's Faye," she asked Melissa.

It was weird that all four of the girls had gone into education, though Diana was glad that it kept them all together. College had been rough, even though she and Cassie had been close and had seen each other on the weekends.

"Um," Melissa shoved her fork in her mouth and started chewing. "I don't know," she looked around to try and look for her friend.

"Melissa," Diana said leaning over the table, "you're a rotten liar. Now, tell me where she is."

Melissa sighed and her shoulders drooped. "She signed Celeste out to take her dress shopping," she said, dropping her fork onto her plate.

"Oh," the other woman said. "I'm glad to see that she's making an effort with her."

Unsure of whether or not this was a trap Melissa narrowed her eyes in question. "And?"

"And what," Diana asked. "I mean, it's not ideal taking her out of school and it could have waited," she said, "but I guess it's okay. She's trying to build a relationship with her, and Faye is the cool Aunt who can play hooky. One day won't do anything to her academic record."

Melissa looked at Diana in shock. "Are you kidding me? You know, if I tried this with Phoebe you would be lecturing me about being a responsible adult and no doubt would be calling my husband to tell him about my bad behavior. How does Faye get off easy?"

Diana laughed. "Well, being good isn't exactly Faye's natural human behavior so I guess I'm more lenient with her when she tries to be good. Hey," she said as a thought occurred to her. "Has Phoebe gotten her dress yet?"

"No, why?"

"I don't have any appointments today. How many more classes do you have?"

"One. Why," she asked, realizing that Diana was plotting.

"Do you think you could get a sub?"

"Ms. Connelly would probably do it. Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?"

"Only if Phoebe doesn't have any tests or labs to do," Diana said with a huge grin on her face.

Staring at each other, the two women burst forth from their seats and made their way back to the main office.

* * *

><p>"Come out, Celeste. Have you never done this before? You need to give me a chance to mock all dresses before you assign them to the trash pile," Faye said. Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she turned and was surprised to see Diana.<p>

"Uh, Dee," she laughed. "You see, I…uh," Faye tried to come up with an excuse for not being at work and failed miserably.

"It's okay," Melissa said walking up with Phoebe. "Diana didn't come to bust you. We thought we could do a girls day."

The curtain opened and Celeste beamed. "Phoebe! What are you doing here?"

Everyone stopped to stare at her. Celeste was beautiful in a navy silk charmeuse gown that hugged all of her curves, and had a deep v neckline and a low cowl back that showed just a hint of lace across it. It had slightly draped cap sleeves and was shorter in the front than the back, showing an appropriate amount of leg.

"Oh, my God," Faye said. "Look at you! There must be a little more of me in you than I thought because you look hot."

"Aunt Faye," Celeste blushed.

"No, you're gorgeous," Phoebe said. "It's perfect. There is no way you are leaving that ball single. Every guy is going to be dying to get their hands on you!"

The two girls shared a moment of excitement while the three adults shared a knowing look; a look of apprehension.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N**: Thank you again for all of your reviews; fanatic4fiction, crazyshipperfangirl, crazylikeafox, theoriginalbitch, luisamendoza, rayn913, and kats02980416. I appreciate the questions, the feedback and your appreciation for the story so far. I hope to continue working on it and updating it frequently.

* * *

><p>Diana, Melissa, and Faye had taken the girls to a local boutique after they found their dresses in order to find shoes, purses and jewelry. After, they had gone to an early dinner before heading home.<p>

Celeste took the garment bag and hung it up in her closet. Unzipping it, the blonde reached out to feel the material and a smile crept onto her face. She didn't know why but she was calmed when she felt the silk charmeuse, instead of anxious or excited for the next day. There was something static in the air and Celeste knew there were good things to come.

Turning toward her bed, she collected tomorrow's accessories and put them on the top shelf in her closet. Yanking her shirt off, Celeste changed into a sleep top and a pair of boxer shorts, and then pulled her hair up into a high ponytail. Climbing in, she settled down in the bed that had once been her mother's and looked up at the ceiling, watching the glow in the dark stars transform before her eyes.

* * *

><p>Adam pulled up to the school and grabbed his daughter's arm before she could make her escape. It was hard to look at her without seeing her mother and knowing that Margaux blamed him for her leaving them. The truth was that he had loved Laura the best that he could.<p>

They had met when he was twenty-two and had just finished his culinary training. His father was still taking care of the business side of the business seeing as he was too young to retire, but Ethan had decided to let Adam take care of the restaurant and the everyday management.

Laura had come in out of the pouring rain with a newspaper held over her head, her long red curls completely drenched. Adam was serving breakfast to some locals when he saw her. Tall and thin, she had been wearing a blush colored tank top and denim skirt when she got caught in the rain.

She had walked right up to him, lowering the newspaper and shivering from cold, and asked if she could use his phone to call a tow truck. Her car had gone over a pothole and before she knew it her car had veered off the road with a flat tire.

Adam had just stared at her and Laura smiled. _"It must have been fate; getting a flat right across the street from you," _she had said. They were married a month later and soon Margaux was on the way. Now she was on her way out.

"I'll see you at the boathouse," he told her and let go of her arm. "I'm gonna need your help to set up for tonight."

"So not only do I _not_ get to go to the ball but now I have to serve and clean up after everyone who does," she yelled. "No way!"

Margaux booked and stormed up to the school leaving Adam with a headache and a throbbing behind his eyes.

* * *

><p>Margaux yanked her locker open and stared at a picture of her and Mark. It was from their first date, when they had doubled with Grey and Phoebe and went to the carnival. Grey had taken the picture to have proof that Mark actually spent time with a girl other than in the backseat of a car.<p>

Ripping it down, Margaux took it and threw it into a trash can. This was the last time that they were going to be breaking up, she vowed.

Spying Grey and Phoebe hanging all over each other, Margaux turned to avoid them and began walking in the opposite direction. Making it to the side exit, she glanced around to make sure no one was watching her as she left school grounds.

* * *

><p>Nick pulled up on his bike and killed the engine before walking into the abandoned Blackwell house.<p>

The text he got had said to meet here and Nick really didn't need a reason to ditch his courses at the community college. He didn't hate school; he just didn't care as much as his dad did.

Climbing the steps to the second story, the eldest member of the circle spotted the youngest. Only two years separated them and yet it felt like an eternity, probably because everyone treated him and his father like outcasts.

Still, that hadn't kept him from noticing her from time to time. Nick had always had a thing for redheads and the fact that both of them had parents that had just up and left them was a bond that only the two of them were unfortunate to share.

Hearing his steps on the stairs, Margaux turned and smiled at him. "It took you long enough," she said finally in a good mood. "Are you interested in a little magic?"

Nick smiled. "What were you thinking of?"

* * *

><p>Phoebe slammed her tray down and sat next to Grey who was with Mark and Celeste. "Have any of you seen Margaux today?"<p>

"What, did she throw another fit," Mark asked before shoveling another bite of awful cafeteria food into his mouth.

"Aren't you supposed to be her boyfriend," Phoebe asked pointedly. "Are you not at all concerned with how upset she must have been after her dad told her she couldn't go to the ball? Not that that's your fault," she said to Celeste.

"Yeah," Celeste said and started to push the food on her plate around with her fork, "but Mark and her breaking up last night might have had a little to do with me."

"Woah, wait a minute," Grey said. "You two broke up again," he asked his best friend. "Why the hell didn't I know about this?"

"Look, she threw a fit after you guys went home," Mark said. "She tried to threaten Celeste out of going to the ball."

"Yeah, and she didn't take too kindly to me telling her to wait her turn," Celeste added. "I couldn't really help it. I don't want to make enemies within the circle but she wasn't exactly making being friends easy."

"That's great," Phoebe said sarcastically. "Well, there goes the senior ball," she said and grabbed her phone.

"What do you mean," Celeste asked her but the other girl was already dialing a number.

"Margaux is Phoebe's best friend," Grey said. "They're protective of each other and Margaux has a history of being destructive and vindictive. Phoebe's probably going to spend e rest of the day looking for Margaux to make sure that she doesn't do any permanent damage."

"Is Margaux really that bad," she turned to Mark for answers.

"You probably don't want to get in her way again," her cousin said. "She's gonna be aiming at someone and right now it's better if she's aiming at me. I can handle Margaux," Mark said.

Phoebe hung up the phone and let out a sigh. "Well, that was Margaux. Apparently she decided to skip school in favor of teenage rebellion." She opened a picture that her friend had sent her minutes earlier. "She used her fake to get a tattoo."

"Great," Mark said. "One more thing her Dad can blame on me."

* * *

><p>"Do you like it," she asked Nick.<p>

He traced the design with his finger, gently passing his hand along her bra. "I've got to say, it looks pretty hot right there."

"Well, boyfriends come and go but tattoos are forever," Margaux told him. Pulling her shirt down, Maggie turned to face her newest partner in crime. "Are you ready for tonight," she asked.

"Yeah," Nick grinned. "I got everything we need. Are you sure you want to do this? I mean, what did she ever do to you?"

"She's the reason this happened to me," Maggie replied heatedly. "If it weren't for her than I wouldn't have been tossed aside."

Getting all of her stuff together, Maggie jammed it into her bag before walking to the table and grabbing her father's book of shadow said, "Just make sure that you can do this. You can't change your mind once we start," she told him.

Nick nodded. "Okay, but make sure you go to your Dad's so he doesn't realize you skipped school today. The last thing we need his him snooping around."

"Will you meet me there, before the ball?"

"Sure. I'll pretend to help you guy's set up for the lameness that will ensue," he joked exposing bright white teeth.

* * *

><p>Faye opened the door, allowing Diana and Melissa in. "Ladies," she drawled. "The girls are upstairs getting ready. Can I offer you anything to drink," Faye said shaking her glass in front of them.<p>

"Faye," Diana said grabbing the glass and sniffing it, "we're chaperones; we can't be drunk at the ball!"

Grabbing her drink from the other woman, Faye said, "It's a mocktail, ladies. Calm down."

"Oh," Diana said. "Okay. Grey should be here in about twenty minutes with Mark. Are the girls almost ready," she asked as she and Melissa followed Faye into the kitchen for their mocktails.

"Last I saw," she told them, "Phoebe was doing Celeste's hair in some kind of half-up half-down do. By the way, Melissa," Faye pointed her glass at her best friend, "kudos on the dress you picked out for Phoebe. I always thought of her style as more of a prudish middle school garb. It's nice to see she's got a little flair. I totally had her pegged as another Diana."

"Hey, I am very stylish," Diana defended her self. "I just happen to be a more classic touch than you, Faye."

"Whatever," the other woman said before taking a sip of her drink. "I just want to get this night over with."

"I'm really excited," Melissa said. "It's like being back in high school. I used to love the dances."

"Do either of you actually remember what happened at those dances," Faye asked.

Diana and Melissa both frowned as they thought about everything that happened back when they were teenagers.

"Exactly," Faye said right before the doorbell rang. "Looks like the boys are here," she said with false excitement, her eyes lighting up. "I'll get it!"


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Sorry I haven't updated in five days. I've been busy with work and getting ready for applying to grad school. I appreciate all of my readers and the reviews. Hopefully I will be able to update more often. I can hardly believe that it's only been a ten days since I started this story. This chapter might be a little deceptive or hard to put the pieces together as I start putting some intrigue into the story.

Ethan stood behind the bar for the first time in ages. He was proud of his son for everything he had accomplished at the restaurant after dealing with the tragedies in his personal life. Drying a glass with the dish towel, he couldn't help but think that just like his own heartbreak over Amelia Adam was doomed to live the rest of his life carrying his own regrets over Cassie.

Ethan hadn't thought history would repeat itself; hell, Ethan had tried to prevent it by telling them that they were destined to be together. Thinking back on it now, he wondered if his interference had an opposite effect than what had been desired. Glancing at Adam who was setting up the tables with linens and place settings, Ethan thought about the future of the Conant line.

Sighing, he tried to rub his headache away. He loved his granddaughter; always had and always would, but that girl was going to be the death of his son. Usually he wouldn't interfere but Maggie wasn't giving him a choice.

The door swung open and the terror walked in, bright red hair flowing behind her. Dressed in a green silk sundress, Margaux looked like the goddess of hearth and home. There was a sun kissed glow to her skin and her freckles spread over her face like bursts of stardust had landed there.

"Grandpa," a smile burst out on her face and she leaped into his arms. "Are you helping tonight?"

"Well, it's been awhile since I've hung around town and I thought it would be nice to help out a little more."

"That's great," she said. "I better start helping out in the kitchen, though. I'm on dessert duty tonight," Margaux kissed her grandfather and bounced away.

Adam walked up and clapped his father on the back. "I'm convinced that girl has a personality disorder," he told his dad.

"You couldn't have had a boy," Ethan asked. "I know how to talk to guys."

"No," Adam crinkled his nose and shook his head, "you don't."

* * *

><p>Celeste looked like a glamorous actress from the 1940s and Phoebe was wearing a short black leather dress with a décolletage neckline, with a black sheer overlay that came together in a boat neck top. They entered on the arms of their escorts, as Celeste preferred not to think of her cousin as her date. If Margaux was right about one thing it was that it sounded pathetic.<p>

The gym looked completely transformed. Tons of bright white Christmas lights sparkled as they hung from the rafters, draped to create a tent look. A local band was playing live music and there were dessert tables lined up on either side of the gym. Celeste knew a catering company had been hired and because Mark had originally planned to take Margaux, Celeste was going to be eating a chicken dinner that she hoped didn't taste like rubber.

It was truly something magical, the blonde thought. Looking across the gym to gaze at Grey through longing eyes, Celeste felt her chest tighten. The only thing worse than wanting him was knowing that he belonged to the person who was quickly becoming her best friend. Turning her head back to look at the group of girls she was talking to, Celeste listened to gossip as she wished that she were the one dancing with Grey.

* * *

><p>Grey held her close to him as they danced to Ingrid Michaelson's <em>The way I am<em>. Phoebe's head was resting on his shoulder and her eyes was closed as she swayed to the music.

They had always been together, he thought. From the moment they started grade school to this very moment, Grey and Phoebe had each other. She was sweet and gave him comfort and just calmed all of his nerves. Unfortunately, he couldn't tear his eyes away from the one girl who incited them.

Phoebe was everything to him; his greatest friend; a part of him that was simple and pure and as true a piece of him as his DNA. But Celeste…

Celeste walked in a room and it was like Grey had been living in night and she was the sun. For the first time he was seeing things in a way he had never thought to look at them. She radiated sunshine and his senses rose to meet her energy and connect with her.

Holding Phoebe, feeling her pressed to him, Grey realized that even her soothing nature couldn't stop Celeste's impact on him. Still, he had made his choice and Grey knew that he would be happy with his decision even when he longed for the one he couldn't let himself have.

* * *

><p>Nick walked through the door and smiled when he caught a glimpse of Margaux. Her red hair was long and flowing in loose waves as she placed a tray on one of the serving tables.<p>

Walking up to her, he looked around to make sure no one would notice before handing her the cool marbled stone.

Ethan was staring out through the kitchen doors while Adam finished prepping the food for tonight. While he knew that the ball would be catered, Adam knew that the kids would spend most of the night dancing and when they arrived for the after party and the bonfire that they would be jonesing for some real food.

"What are you looking at," Adam whispered and noted his father quick stumble as he tried to cover his actions.

"Nothing," Ethan blustered and turned to look at his son.

"I don't think so," he rebutted. "What's really going on?"

Ethan looked at his son and sighed. "I was just thinking about the night sky," he said, clapping Adam on the back as he made his way to the window. "It's a clear night; good for stargazing."

"Thinking of Amelia again," Adam asked.

"Why? Are you thinking of Cassie again," Ethan replied.

Chuckling, the son through his dish towel down on the island before evading the question. "Well, at least we know that there won't be any Blake-Conant for this generation. Unless my daughter isn't telling me something," he joked. "You know," Adam pointed at his dad, "I would be okay with her being a lesbian if it meant this thing with Mark would go away."

Ethan thought about his granddaughter and the older boy outside with her. "Yeah, no drama," Ethan said, trying to believe as his son did. He could only wish that his granddaughter wouldn't suffer the same fate as him and Adam.

* * *

><p>Mark handed Celeste a glass of punch, sitting down beside her. "I'm surprised that you were able to get away from the crowd of guys waiting to dance with you."<p>

Celeste laughed wearily. "I don't know how I managed to do it, but I finally escaped. I wasn't nearly this popular at my old school," she said.

"Well, pretty new girl comes to town and she's bound to be a hot commodity," Mark joked. "Any of them catch your fancy?"

Eyebrows raised, Celeste looked at her cousin. "'Fancy'? You sound like someone's great-aunt from an historical romance; and no, not a one caught my _fancy_. What about you?"

Mark leaned back in his chair trying to be smooth and debonair. "You know how I do," he tried to be serious.

"Is there even one girl you would be interested in now that you and Margaux are done," Celeste asked.

"One," he answered as he looked away. "But that's never going to happen."

"Well, who knows? Maybe one day you'll get a clean shot with someone," Celeste said. "I have a feeling we're going to need to get out of this town."

"It only took you three days to figure it out," Mark joked. "Maybe someday we'll get out of Chance Harbor together."

Celeste looked back at Grey and Phoebe. "Do you really think we could leave the circle?"

"Your mother did," he reminded her. "Why can't we?"

Celeste wondered for a minute if it were really possible. Her whole life she had been groomed to one day come back and take leadership of the coven. What if there were other options?

* * *

><p>The motorcycle pulled up to the high school with Margaux clinging tightly to Nick. Pulling the helmet off, Margaux inhaled deeply. The night air was cool and refreshing.<p>

"Did you prepare the altar," she asked Nick as she climbed off the back of his bike.

"Pointing to the North just like you asked. Are you sure your dad and grandpa won't miss us?"

"I think Dad's just happy to see me with someone other than Mark," she said as they walked across campus.

Reaching the altar, Margaux started taking things out of her messenger bag. "Can I have their things?"

Nick walked over and handed her a gold necklace and a brown leather bracelet. "Anything else?"

"Yeah," Margaux said. "Keep a look out."

* * *

><p>Phoebe smiled to herself as she swayed back and forth to the rhythm of the music. It was like her entire body was humming for some odd reason. She had never felt this way before and she chalked it up to the first night of the new moon phase.<p>

Phoebe clung to her newfound empowerment and couldn't help but visualize as she let herself go deeper and deeper into her meditation.

* * *

><p>"You're really going to do this to her," Nick asked. "What made you hate her so much?"<p>

"She's the reason why everything happened between me and Mark. None of it would have happened if she could have just left things alone," Margaux told him. Lighting the first circle, Margaux cast the circle.

She began by taking three long ribbons; emerald green, pink, and black, and weaving them together. She stopped to tie a knot in the braid and began the prayer.

"Venus, Queen of Love, divine. Bring the love to her that is mine."

Margaux repeated this seven times, until the ribbons were bound to each other and Margaux took the bracelet and necklace and wrapped them around the braid, binding it to it with twine.

Picking up a knife, she carved their names into a candle. "Diana, queen of love, I invoke thee…"

* * *

><p>They left the ball and made their way to the boathouse while the chaperones stayed behind to clean up the mess.<p>

"See Faye, the dance was perfectly lovely and nothing happened," Diana told the other woman.

Faye stood staring at her nails as Diana and Melissa walked around cleaning up. "Um, am I the only one who remembers that there's a cleaning crew for that? What is the school paying them for if you're going to clean up anyway?"

"It's the nice thing to do," Melissa said.

Sighing, she flipped her hair over her shoulder. "Whatever. Are we going to the boathouse or not? Nothing happened at the dance but I still have a feeling that something strange is going on."

"Ah," Melissa said. "Faye's spidey senses are acting up again!"

Diana laughed. "Why is it that you're always expecting the worse?"

"Something strange is going on," Faye insisted. "And for some reason I have a feeling it has something to do with Mark."

Melissa and Diana shared a strange look. Faye was usually right when it came to her motherly instincts despite being a completely different parent then the other two. They just hoped the rest of the circle wasn't involved.

* * *

><p>Margaux and Nick walked into the boathouse where seniors had packed in for the festivities. They would spend the rest of the night on the docks and around the bonfire; most preferring to camp out there.<p>

Leading the way, she headed up to her bedroom and grabbed for Nick's hand. Closing the door, she immediately took the braided ribbons from her bag and hid it in a shoebox in the back of her closet.

"I still can't believe that you would cast a love spell on them," he told her. "That's kind of sick."

"It didn't stop you from helping me do it," she responded.

Walking up to him she put her hands on his chest and pushed him back onto her bed.

"Yeah, well I guess I did it for myself more than anything else," he told her, brushing her hair behind her ear.

Smiling, Margaux pressed him flat against the bed and hovered over him. "Well, now that they'll be spending all of their time thinking about each other it frees up more of my time. Which means I can begin to focus on other things," she said and leaned down to kiss him.


	7. Chapter 7

Nick surged forward as he woke from his dream. It had felt so real, like he had really been in Margaux's room. Sweat clung to his body as the shirtless teenage boy ran a hand through his hair. His breathing was labored as if he had just run a marathon. He couldn't understand why she seemed to be pushing herself into his thoughts. Truth be told, Nicholas Armstrong had pushed her out years earlier.

Turning to dig through his nightstand drawer, he pulled out an old photograph. There were bends and tears in what had once been a smooth portrait of the most significant day of his life so far. Falling back in his bed, he lifted his head to rest an arm underneath it and stared at that photo, remembering…

* * *

><p>Margaux climbed through the side window, knowing that Phoebe always left it open. It was basically an invitation to walk in.<p>

Creeping around the house, she did her best not to wake up Phoebe's mom and step-father; the red head doubted that her best friend was home yet and she was counting on that. The spell earlier had only been part one of her plan and she hadn't wanted to involve Nick in this part, mostly because she knew he would try to talk her out of doing this.

As it was, Margaux had already had to spell him to keep him from remembering what had happened upstairs in her room. She had known it was a mistake before she let it happen, but Maggie hadn't been able to make herself care about the consequences of using someone so selfishly. Especially him.

For as long as she could remember there had been a bond between them, even though Nick was excluded from everything. Mark and Grey didn't particularly care for the other male witch and Margaux was constantly trying to find ways to bring Nick into the group. Still, that didn't mean that she should have let it go as far as it did that night.

The only saving grace was the fact that she knew that Nick would never actually let himself care about anyone. It was terrible to think, because the teenager knew that he had problems letting himself get attached to others because of being abandoned by his mother, but it was the only thing that seemed to help clear her conscience.

It had cleared her conscience enough to enable her to not care as she began planting items in what was now her ex-best friend's room in floor boards and in her pillow case. Margaux sat for a moment looking around the room and imagined the consequences to the spell that she had cast earlier and smiled to herself.

* * *

><p>Grey pulled up to Phoebe's house and walked her up the steps and then leaned down for his good night kiss. The plan had been to pitch a tent and camp for the night before getting breakfast at the boathouse and heading over to the next town to have some fun. Unfortunately his date's stomach didn't agree.<p>

"I'm so sorry," Phoebe said again. "I think it must have been something I ate at the ball."

"I just hope you feel better," Grey said. "I mean, it sucks to not get to spend the night with you," he told her and hugged her tight to his body, "but there will be other nights, right?"

"Right," she smiled and leaned in, pressing her head to his chest. "I wish I could kiss you," Phoebe whispered.

"But you may or may not be contagious," Grey replied. "Rain check?"

Phoebe nodded, still leaning into him. She didn't want to move but she knew she would have to put herself to bed and let him be on his way. "I'll call you tomorrow," she told him and turned to unlock her door.

"You'd better. Now go get some sleep." Grey closed the screen door behind her and waited to hear her lock the doors before heading home.

She locked the door behind her and took off her shoes. Barefoot, she trailed her way through the house until she entered her bedroom, closing the door behind her. Still dark, Phoebe made her way to the closet and opened the double doors when she felt a firm hand on her back, caressing her as the zipper on her dress was pulled down.

Leaning back into his hard chest, Phoebe's eyes closed as she moaned in pleasure. His hands were roaming underneath her dress and he was kissing her neck. All control was lost and she gave in completely, letting him guide her to the floor where he pushed the skirt of her dress up as he kissed her.

* * *

><p>Jake walked the beach that night, the sounds of Chance Harbors teens brought him back to his past. Nineteen years earlier he had walked this beach with Cassie and while it hadn't been their first kiss it was certainly the beginning of their relationship.<p>

It had been after her short lived romance with Adam, when Cassie had tried to make it work with the other witch and maintain her friendship with Diana. Jake had taken her out after a fright with Adam had ended their affair and so Jake and Cassie became a couple.

Thinking back on it, he probably should have known that starting a relationship with a girl on the rebound was a mistake. Hell, he had known it back then too, but Jake had been in love with her for a months and was willing to take whatever Cassie was willing to give him. They had been together for almost four years when it had all come crashing down.

Reaching his destination, Jake knelt in the sand and began digging until he pulled up the parcel he had put there almost two decades earlier. He had decided that things had happened in a haze of mixed emotions but when Cassie came back he would clear the air once and for all. She owed him that.

* * *

><p>Celeste entered her home, throwing her keys on a side table and kicked off her shoes. Her Aunt Faye had been checking up on her but the seventeen year old was staying here alone. She had left the boathouse after Mark had ditched her and was looking forward to crawling into bed. Climbing the stairway, her hand trailed the banister and her gown flowed behind her.<p>

She would have to get used to the disappointment, Celeste decided. The feelings she had for Grey would stay hidden and life would go on. For all her mother had taught her, Cassie had left out the most important lessons she could have passed down to her daughter; how to handle a forbidden love and how to move on. Faye had filled the girl in on some of her mother's history, but Celeste was sure that the most interesting; helpful details had been left out. She wasn't sure if that was because Faye was trying to be a good Aunt/Sister, or because there was something worth hiding.

Now, sitting at her bedside and changing into her pajamas, Celeste vowed to herself that however things had ended for her mother; she would not make the same mistakes. Celeste would let go of the idea of Greyson and cling to Phoebe. Friendship would help the young girl avoid the trouble of heartache.

* * *

><p>"<em>Nick," Jake called after his son. Running down Main Street the single father dodged oncoming traffic as he searched for his missing nine year old son. <em>

_They had been spending the day together and Nick had wanted to go to the beach. Jake had told his son no and before he knew it the little boy had disappeared from the diner where Jake had treated him to lunch. It had only taken one moment of distraction for the tyke to disappear. _

_He had tried everywhere and now the man was getting scared. The last thing he wanted to do was to turn to the circle or the town to find him but it had been more than an hour and he had no luck finding Nick on his own. Taking out his phone, he called the one person he knew would help him with out any questions. _

"_Diana? I need your help…" _

"_Here," the small voice whispered. _

_Nick turned and spied the red head by the oak tree. She was waving at him and ran into the park. Racing behind her, his father's voice grew farther and farther away. _

_Climbing into the jungle gym, he crouched down next to his conspirator. "Why did you help me?"_

_Margaux tilted her head as the six year old thought out her answer. "You looked like you needed to get away. This is my favorite place," she told him. "It can be yours too." _

_She was the first person to give him something so personal and Nick didn't know how to act. He knew who she was because he would sometimes go with his dad to the boathouse for impromptu meetings and Maggie would be there with her mom as their dads bickered. _

"_Okay," he said. "Will you stay with me?"_

_Nodding, she turned to sit next to him and put her head on his shoulder. "Dad thinks I'm at Phoebe's house. He won't come looking for me until dark."_

"_My dad will probably be mad. He had the entire day planned," Nick told her. _

"_Why?"_

"_It's my birthday," he said. Feeling the weight lift off his shoulder, he turned to look at his new friend and was surprised when she leaned forward and kissed his cheek. _

"_Happy birthday."_

Nick dropped the photo onto his chest as he remembered the rest of that day.

Jake and Diana had found them in the park a couple of hours later and it was the only time that his dad didn't react so harshly. Jake had taken the picture of Nick and Maggie hanging off the jungle gym holding hands. Since then they had spent all of his birthdays together.

This was the first time she had forgotten his birthday. So had everybody else.


	8. Chapter 8

"You _have _to _go,_" she said pushing him out the door and reached out to kiss him. "I'll see you later—at the meeting," the girl told her lover. He kept trying to sneak back in for a kiss but she knew if she let him then they would never get anything accomplished. Pushing him out, she slammed the door; turned the lock, and pressed her fingers to her lips. Smiling, she didn't even think about what she had done.

* * *

><p>The sun was rising and Jake knew that while the kids would probably sleep until a quarter to noon, the adults would be waking up in anticipation. The circles hadn't practiced liked this since the boat fire that had killed so many of Chance Harbors witches.<p>

Jake looked at the object he had only dug up the night before. He didn't know why he had gone to get it last night, considering it would be months before he had a chance to confront Cassie, but he would hold it close until it was time to return it to its rightful owner.

* * *

><p>Faye barged into Mark's room, sipping her latte and heading straight for the window. Throwing open the curtains, she smiled as her teenage son let out a howl of anger as he was suddenly extracted from slumber.<p>

"Morning, sunshine," she practically purred.

"_Mom,_ shut the curtains," he demanded into his pillow.

"Oh, I don't think so," Faye smiled cruelly. "Someone came in very late last night, or should I say _this morning_. I don't think it' too much to ask that you follow curfew considering how generous I am with it," she said and yanked the comforter off him. "Now get dressed! We're going to be late for your first lesson and we're picking up Celeste and Melissa and Phoebe—"Mark jumped up and ran to his bathroom, tripping over his feet on the way.

Faye's eyes narrowed as suspicion began to take hold. She would have to remember to find out when the rest of the kids had returned home the previous evening.

* * *

><p>They ascended on the house, walking through the dry brittle grass. Celeste knew that while her great grandma's house had been left to her, this house had been left to her mother by John Blackwell. Why hadn't she done anything to fix it up? Her hot pink converse led her ahead of the pack and when she entered Celeste realized that Jake and Nick were already there and they had brought snacks.<p>

"Are you all ready," Jake asked and the adults moved to join him, creating two separate lines; older generation and younger generation. "Let's get started."

They had gone over basics; common herbs and flowers for most potions and spells, verbal structure of spells, and the adults were shockingly prepared to teach as they explained how the lessons would go. The two circles would meet once during the week and twice on weekends, with each parent teaching a different area.

Jake would be handling the historical standpoint of witches in America as well as the current techniques of witch hunters and how to defend against them. Adam, ever the chef, would be going over plant life and other potion ingredients while Diana would cover dark magic. Other than Cassie's, Diana's book of shadows had the most information on dark magic and evil beings, and Diana had made a point of studying them ever since she had learned of Cassie's heritage.

Faye, the one who loved magic the most, would be exploring other kinds of magic with the kids. Over the years she had studied many different kinds of paganism, voodoo, hoodoo and others. The last parent, Melissa, would be setting up daily practice routines for the kids to practice their powers.

Celeste basically knew all of these things; her mother and their friends had taught her well. Still, she knew that it would be important to participate and build a stronger relationship with her circle. Though Celeste completely understood her mother's reasons for raising her away from this place, the teenager still wished that her mother would have recognized how important it would be to her daughter to be raised with her coven members. Glancing at Margaux, she wondered how different things would be if they had all grown up together.

* * *

><p>Greyson walked up behind Phoebe, kissing the back of her head and wrapping his arms around me. "Can I cash in that rain check?"<p>

Turning, she looked up at him with apologetic eyes. "I am so _sorry_, baby. I already made plans to have a girls' night with Celeste. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Sure," he said. "Do you want to grab dinner at D'Agostino's?"

"That sounds great," Phoebe stepped on her tip toes to kiss him. "I gotta go!"

Phoebe jogged up to Celeste who was talking to Diana and Adam. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Celeste was just showing us her book of shadows," Diana told her. "I never would have thought to keep a separate one but I must say, there are interesting spells in here and I might try experimenting with my own magic."

"Maybe once we're trained we can all start our own book of shadows," Phoebe offered.

"I think that's a great idea," Adam pitched in. "It will help you to learn more and keep track of the magic you're learning. I have to go, but maybe we can meet up before tomorrow's lesson to talk about giving the kids books to journal in for their training," he said to Diana.

"I'll set it up. Have a good night," she waved as he left.

"Um, Celeste," Phoebe pulled her to the side, "do you want to do a girls' night? I have the new Liam Howell movie."

"Yeah, I'd love to—oh, just hold on a moment," Celeste told the other girl and picked up her cell phone which was vibrating against the table it was lying on.

"Hello," Celeste answered. "Mom! What's up?" They talked for a few minutes and Celeste hung up on a giggle.

"That was my mom," the blonde told her friend. "She's on study abroad right now but she just told me that she's taking time off next month. Mom's coming back for Halloween."

"That's great," Phoebe told her. "I wonder what it will be like having two full circles in town. We should organize something special, like a rite."

"That sounds great. Hey," Celeste said switching tracks, "do you wanna stop by the general store and get some treats for the movie?"

Phoebe and Celeste left arm in arm, giggling and laughing along the way.


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N:** I know, right? **AMAZING** that I actually updated again. Sorry that I haven't been putting the last few chapters out as quickly as the first few but I'm working on two other stories right now and everything is crazy. Get ready, though. A **BOMB **is about to go off in this one. I bet you didn't see it coming!

* * *

><p>Nick hit the brakes and Margaux moved towards him with a sly look on her face. She threw a leg over his motorcycle and took the helmet he handed her. "Where to?"<p>

"The park," she said, "where we met." Ever since the senior ball Margaux had felt driven to Nick. She didn't want to put their friendship in jeopardy which was why she had gone so far as to make sure Nick didn't remember what had happened between them, but something kept pushing her at him.

They stopped and Nick parked, climbing off and extending his hand to Margaux. "What are we doing here?"

"I know it's a few days late, but," Maggie said reaching into the Gymboree and pulled out a package, "Happy birthday!"

"You remembered," his voice was barely audible.

"Well, duh!" Maggie handed him his present and sat down on the asphalt. She waited a moment and then glared at him. "Are you going to open it or not?"

Kneeling down next to her, he slid a finger under the wrapping paper and tore into his present. "College description books?"

"I know you think that you don't want to go," Maggie started, "but I think that's a lie. No one has ever told you that you were smart enough except for your dad and you decided a long time ago that he was a liar."

"I just want to build bikes," Nick said.

"You don't just want to build bikes," Maggie scoffed. "You were born to build things. I don't know if you want to build houses or design buildings or engineer cars, but you are more than just a mechanic, Nick. Besides, I need to get out of this town and when I do it would be nice to have a friend with me. I highlighted all of the colleges I want to apply to that might have programs you like."

"You're really talking about this? About the two of us leaving together?"

"The circle isn't the end-all be-all that our parents make it out to be; I'm certainly not making it my entire life. We could start over away from here," she told him. "We don't have to be what they are; stuck in this town with broken hearts and meaningless dreams."

"I'll take a look," he told her. "I still have a whole other year to decide since you're only a junior right now."

Maggie's face lit up. "We're gonna burn this city," she told him. "Chance Harbor will never be the same when we're done with it."

Nick nudged her and smiled. "They'll never know what hit them."

* * *

><p>"Thanks for girl's night," Phoebe said and Celeste walked her downstairs. "I really needed the night away from boys and drama."<p>

"What drama? I thought things were great with Grey," Celeste tried to hide her excitement. It was silly, really. Even if things didn't end out right with the two of them Grey still wouldn't want her.

"You know, high school stuff. I'd better be getting home. My mom's waiting for me." Putting on her jacket, she grabbed her purse and her cell. "I'm really glad you came to Chance Harbor, Celeste. I think things are finally coming together for the circle."

Celeste watched the other girl leave and hoped she got home safe, though in Chance Harbor there wasn't exactly a chance for anything else to happen unless magic was involved.

* * *

><p>Magic was always involved, Diana realized. Magic was involved and it always caused secrets and drama. The old photo of her and Cassie at her engagement party reminded her of the secret she kept for Cassie, as well as the secret Cassie and Faye kept for her. There wasn't a day that went by that she didn't question the decisions that had been made.<p>

In her head, the decisions were made by three teenage girls who didn't know any better and they could be forgiven. In her heart, Diana knew that if the secrets ever got out that it would destroy everything in their lives; friendships, marriages, and their bond to their children and their magic would be shattered beyond repair. And it had all started with her secret.

"_Diana, I know."_

_That was all it took for the wall Diana had created to come tumbling down. "What do you mean, you know?"_

_Cassie walked towards her and sat down. "I know that the child you're carrying isn't Richard's. And I know that the child you're having is more than just a Meade. You're having Adam's baby, aren't you?"_

"_Cassie, you can't tell him," Diana grabbed her hand. "Adam is noble and generous and if he knew—"_

"_If he knew," she interrupted, "he would marry you. He still loves you, Diana. Why wouldn't you want that?"_

_Diana almost laughed through the tears that were pouring down her cheeks. "Adam may love me, the way you love your first love; with nostalgia and fondness, but he will always want _you_, Cassie. I deserve to be with someone who only wants me."_

"_And what about Richard? Doesn't he deserve the same?"_

_Looking down, Diana let go of her friend's hand. "He knows, Cassie. He knows about Adam being my child's biological father. Richard still wants to marry me."_

"_You still haven't answered the question. Is it right to marry him and deny him the right to find someone who only loves _him_?_

"_And can you really keep Adam away from his son," Cassie asked her next. _

"_He loves you," the brunette reiterated. "It will always just be you. No matter who you're with or he's with; how much distance or time you put between each other."_

"_I'm married," Cassie told her. "I made my decision and I have my family," holding up her ring to remind the other girl. "Everything that happened might not have been planned, and I didn't expect to have a child when I hadn't even finished college yet, but Jake and Nick are my world. Nothing will change that, even time and space. _

"I made my choice,"_ Cassie emphasized. "Make sure the one you're making is the right one. Either way, it's not my place to say or do anything._"

Diana had watched Cassie leave her apartment that day and they hadn't talked about it since. Every day she had to push back the knowledge of what she had done.

It had been hard at first, but as she watched Richard with her son – and surely but slowly fall in love with him—the secret had felt like it didn't exist. Richard was Greyson's father and that was that. At least that was all it was before Cassie had shipped Celeste to Chance Harbor and her best friend's imminent return came upon them. The only thing that kept her going was the knowledge that Greyson was firmly and securely in love with Phoebe.

This town didn't need the Blake-Conant curse above them. That damage had already occurred two decades earlier.

* * *

><p>Celeste reached into the hiding spot and grabbed her mother's book of shadows. No one knew that she had it, except of course her mother, and that was the way things had to be. The key to everything was in this book. Answers to every question the circles had ever asked.<p>

"Like who my father is," Celeste said to herself. Cassie had kept a few secrets to herself and Celeste didn't know much about her mother's past except for their Balcoin lineage and the fact that Cassie had attended Columbia university after moving to Chance Harbor.

Cassie had told her about magic and all of its drama to a certain extent. Learning that her mother had been caught in three different love triangles had been news and that was where she was focusing her efforts now. Apparently Adam and Jake had both tried to earn her affection, and the book dedicated several pages to the Blake-Conant prophecies.

Though she couldn't deny her thoughts, the last thing she wanted to believe was that she was Margaux's sister. Still, her mother had named her Celeste as in celestial, as in stars and the book clearly said that the two lines were made for each other; written in the stars. It was the only hint to the question she wanted answered.

"Are you my father, Adam?" Of course the only person she was talking to was herself; and the picture of her mom with Adam from when they dated briefly in high school. She might be here on a mission for her mother, but Celeste had a mission of her own.


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: you asked for it and here it is...enjoy the chapter!

Mark let himself in and headed straight back to the kitchen, opening the fridge and pulling out leftovers. Opening the Tupperware, he took a sniff; tilted his head to the side while he pondered the likelihood of getting food poisoning before shrugging his shoulders and reaching for a fork.

He was leaning against the counter when his cousin walked in. "Hey, sleeping beauty. Have fun last night at girls' night?"

"How did you know about that?" Celeste moved to the coffee maker and put a pot on.

"A little birdie," Mark told her and shoveled food into his mouth. "Come on, I need to show you something."

Celeste reached for a mug and poured herself a cup. "You're gonna have to give me a moment," her voice still groggy. "I don't function without caffeine."

* * *

><p>"This is what you had to show me at nine o'clock in the morning? No offense, but it kind of sucks," she drawled.<p>

Faye chuckled, and sat up moving into a kneeling position. She had sent Mark out to fetch her niece while she set everything up here. There was a large blanket sprawled out and a couple of picnic baskets, though food was not the priority on this little family trip.

"This is the highest point in Chance Harbor," she told the young girl. "Nice views, though you're right; they're not spectacular, but this _is _the best place to work magic. Everything is stronger here."

"And you brought me here, why?" It wasn't so much confusion as distrust that her questioning every interaction she had with her aunt. Faye was one of those rare people who was so genuinely themselves. Celeste knew that there were mixed feelings between her and Cassie though they both swore that the past had been resolved.

After all, Faye had found the power she had so openly craved and the siblings had reached an understanding. Considering their beginning the girls were fairly close, though no one really saw it the way Celeste did. When they had gone to college they had e-mailed but it wasn't until Cassie left the circle for good that they had formed a real relationship.

Celeste was still in the dark about what had happened back then because her mother thought it was best to keep those secrets buried, but the teenager thought that her aunt might be the key to all of that. It wouldn't be so easy getting it out of the older woman because whatever had happened had been significant enough to bind them together in an alliance. Celeste would have to continue acting like america's sweetheart instead of the girl she really was. After all, she was good enough to still have her mother fooled.

"Uh uh uh," Faye wagged a finger at her niece. "Good things come for those who wait."

"I never pegged you as someone who would wait for something to happen to them," Celeste said with a straight face. "I thought you were more of the type to reach out and take it," the blonde faked being interested in the local plants and picked a berry. "That's what mom always said."

Mark held back a laugh when his mom's face dropped. He knew there was more to Celeste than her dry humor and sarcasm; she was daring and forceful and now he suspected sneaky and manipulative— yet another woman in his life with more power and control over their surroundings than he could ever hope to possess. Then again, Mark wasn't exactly the type to scheme or steal, unless it was his best friend's girlfriend. He still didn't know how that happened.

Turning, Faye gave him a death stare. "We all have a common goal," Faye said, "and we would be crazy to think there was any other way to reach it but magic. We're witches, and that means the best weapon and tool we have is our magic."

"And this is the best place to practice it," Celeste inferred. "But first we need a plan. And whatever we do we need to do it fast. Mom is coming in a month and that's when we'll be strongest."

"Four Balcoin witches are better than three," Faye said. "And Halloween is the day of the year when our magic is most powerful. That means we have to work fast."

She reached into the basket and tossed Mark a bag with candles and other supplies. "Make the circle, we don't want prying ears and eyes spying on us," Faye said and she and Celeste took their personal books of shadows out, turning the pages until they got to the ones they wanted.

* * *

><p>Melissa knocked on the door and smiled at Richard. "Hey, you! I feel like I haven't seen you in forever," the witch said and leaned in for a hug. "Tim misses hanging out with you. You have to stop by sometime and get him off my back," she joked.<p>

Richard laughed. "I do miss our bromance," Diana's husband said. "Maybe we can set something up for next weekend."

"Tim would love that," Melissa smiled as they walked back to the kitchen.

"Melissa," Diana hugged her. "I'm glad you could come so quickly," the brunette took her arm and lead her upstairs. "I could really use your opinion on something."

They walked up stairs to her office and Diana led Melissa in, shutting the door. Melissa tossed her bag and sat down at the computer chair. "What's up? It sounded pretty urgent," the other mom said. "I was afraid you were gonna tell me that something happened with the kids or that we were gonna be grandparents."

"Oh, God no," Diana said. "If Greyson got Phoebe pregnant you'd be more likely to find out by the crime scene tape that would be plastered all over the house."

"Whew," Melissa said and swiped the back of her hand over her forehead in mock relief. "Thank God."

"This has more to do with what happened eighteen years ago," the brunette said tersely and watched her friend suddenly switch from joking to serious.

"What do you mean," Melissa scooched to the edge of her seat, grasping the handles. "Did something happen?"

Diana leaned against the desk and tried to center herself before speaking. "You know, we were kids back then and it wasn't our fault that we were led astray. John Blackwell –"

"John Blackwell?" Melissa pushed herself up to stand closer to her friend. "I thought we promised never to speak about that again? It's the past and there's nothing we can do to change that. Besides, things turned out right for most of us."

"What about Jake and Nick? They lost Cassie, Melissa. How can we be okay with what we did when their family was torn apart?"

Melissa looked away for a second as she tried to get her emotions under control. "Look," she said, "what we did or didn't do had nothing to do with their family breaking up. The damage was done the minute Adam and Cassie discovered the truth about the curse.

"Yes," she continued, "it's unfortunate that Blackwell used Jake to manipulate Adam and Cassie breaking up; not exactly parent of the year potential. Still," she heaved, "you didn't know that and neither did anyone else. What happened between you and Adam sucked, but nothing came of what we did and no one ever has to know," Melissa grabbed Diana's hand. "We're in the clear."

Diana retracted her hand and stared at the ground. "That's not exactly true," she told her. "Something did come of it."

Melissa stared back blankly and shook her head. "What are you talking about? You went back to Richard and Adam met what's her face," shaking her hand at an imaginary figure.

"Melissa, I—well, I don't know how to say this but—" Diana paced nervously and Melissa grabbed her by the shoulders to steady her.

"What?"

"Adam is Greyson's father," she barely whispered and saw the look of shock on her friend's face.

* * *

><p>"You have to go," Phoebe said leaning in for one more kiss before shoving Mark away. "My mom's gonna be home any minute."<p>

Mark snaked an arm around her and held her close, his lips moving to her neck and he relished in her moans. They hadn't been able to keep their hands of each other since the dance no matter how hard they tried and he couldn't even care to try anymore.

All of a sudden thunder and lightning surged from the heavens and her screen door ripped open by a blast of wind. Startled, Phoebe turned to see what was going on and crossed the threshold to the porch. The hair on the back of her neck was standing up and Mark moved up to plaster more searing kisses on the base of her neck, sending shivers up her spine.

"What is it," he asked her when he noticed how stiff she was.

"I don't know," her voice oddly hollow and she stepped inside her house; locking her screen door with him on the other side. "I just feel like we're being watched or something."

"Don't be ridiculous. Now let me in," he said twisting the knob and frowned when it didn't budge.

"I think you should go home," Phoebe said and reached for her door. "Something doesn't feel right. I'll talk to you tomorrow," she said and closed it quickly before he got a chance to object.

* * *

><p>"So," Margaux asked him with a devilish grin on her face. "Did you do it?"<p>

Nick slid his cell across the countertop and took a bite of his sandwich while the redheaded imp's face glimmered with satisfaction. "You gotta love technology, huh? It's just as good as magic," he smiled. "That spy app is fantastic."

"I wonder if he's even seen it yet," she pondered with a wide smile. "I'd like to watch as they go down in flames."

"Well, I sent all of their texts to him about an hour ago," Nick told her. "We should know soon if anything has happened," he finished saying right before Greyson came barging into the boathouse with fists clenched and a murderous look on his face.

"Hi Adam," Maggie said pretending not to know anything. "What can I get for you today?"

"Do you have any of your special brew left," he asked and Maggie's brows raised an inch up her forehead.

"Well, I'll love a duck," she said and reached under the counter for what looked like a teabag. "What would you like it with?"

"Whatever doesn't dilute it," Adam said.

"Well, just be careful. This is strong stuff; completely legal, mind you. Just don't get caught by any of the parents. And in case you do get caught, don't remember where you got it from," Maggie said mixing it with tonic water.

Greyson downed it and slammed the glass down. "Any chance I can get some to go?"

Maggie and Nick shared a glance and Nick rose from the barstool. "Why don't we go back to the abandoned house? I think you'll find more there and maybe some privacy too," Nick grabbed the other boy's keys and led him out of the restaurant.

Margaux was extremely satisfied with the current events unfolding in her little plot.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **So, I decided since you all wanted it so much that I would give you a small taste. Here's some much needed/wanted Jake and Cassie love. I hope you enjoy it. Please keep reading and reviewing.

* * *

><p>"<em>Are you sure," Jake asked, brushing her hair behind her ear. <em>

_He leaned closer to catch a glimpse into her eyes but she was hiding from him and that was the last thing he wanted. Moving forward, he brushed a kiss into her hair and forced himself to tear away from her embrace. There was no way he could take advantage of her and that's exactly what he would be doing in her current state. _

_Jake didn't know why, but from the very beginning he had loved her. He had denied it at first because at the time she was the very thing he hated; he thought her magic and her bloodline evil and responsible for everything that had happened to his family, especially since Nick had been killed. Still, there was something in her smile and her touch that soothed his anger and roused his own chivalrous, thoughtful, protective manor. Cassie Blake made him a better man though he didn't delude himself into thinking he offered her anything that came close in comparison. What he did offer was complete, blind faith and trust. Love not being the least of all because it was all he had to give. _

_Cassie grabbed his hand before Jake even had the chance to take two steps away. Looking into her eyes, the blond saw something different that hadn't been there before, or rather what wasn't there now. _

_Standing, the bold determination she felt to know; to love him replaced the feelings she had held so dearly for Adam. Cassie didn't understand why fate had been so cruel as to make for her a perfect mate and then decree that they could never be together, but somewhere along the lines as the Blakes and Conants struggled with the weight of the curse, destiny had lead her down another path. _

_Cassie hadn't always treated Jake with the unwavering faith that she had put in Adam but she had always felt that he could be trusted, if not to do what was right than to protect her at the very least. Bringing his hand to her cheek, she gazed into his eyes and pressed a soft, seductive kiss to his palm. There had been no choice but to give her love to Adam and to then find her heart broken. He had taken with him the largest piece, but the choice Cassie was making now was 100% hers to trust Jake to guard the remaining pieces she clung to so closely. _

_Using his other hand to tilt her chin up, Jake slowly descended to her lips and let his fingers dive into her hair. It was tender and loving but most of all it was free to be exactly what it was; a boy kissing a girl. There was no supernatural influence or forces to link them together or to tear them apart. It was free will. _

_That will turned that simplistic, sensual kiss into a hot, torrid fire of passion as Cassie buried her hurt and fury and Jake summoned more love than Cassie knew was still in her heart. Being with him here, like this, finally made her realize that she was more than the love she had given away. Cassie was also the love she gave and received to all of her friends and family. _

_Jake trailed his lips down to her neck, marking her with his kisses and sending shivers up her spine. Now she knew why people created the vampire fantasy; as his tongue flicked across her flesh, his hands pressed into her back which arched into his own perfect form, Cassie felt as if she was being emptied into him. Jake was drawing everything from her and it was sexy and fulfilling and in that moment if he had sported fangs and tried to bleed her dry she would have been more than happy to give herself up to him willingly. _

_Her reaction to him was so strong that she held him there with her nails dug into his flesh right between his shoulder blades. Intoxicated by her reaction, he ripped his shirt over his head and reached for hers. "Are you sure," he asked again. _

_Cassie bit her lip and nodded, hooking her fingers into his belt and pulling him close enough to feel his arousal and a moan crept past her lips. Kissing him, she freed him of his pants and then rid herself of her own and was surprised when he picked her up bridal style and carried her upstairs to the only renovated bedroom in the abandoned house. _

_It was the bed where he had slept off the symptoms of the curse after she and Adam had made love for the only time. Her father, who owned the house, had decided that since he would be in town for an unforeseeable period of time that it should be returned to its former glory. One day this house would be hers and she connected with it just as much as her Grandma Jane's home. _

_They made love in that bed both the first and last time they had been together; their son had been conceived in that bed…_

* * *

><p>Nick led Grey into the abandoned house. By the time they got there the brew he had imbibed had taken affect, and the younger boy was blitzed out of his mind.<p>

Nick laughed. _You think Karma's a bitch,_ he thought, _but she has nothing on Margaux Conant. _

Loading Grey into a chair, Nick moved over to Maggie's secret stash/bar and mixed up another drink for his buddy. Grey was gonna need another drink for what they were about to endure.

* * *

><p>"Adam is Grey's—"<p>

"Father," Melissa muttered as her friend repeated the original sentence that was the source for her shock. Turning away, she muttered a curse and pushed her hand through her hair before facing her friend again. "Who else knows about this?"

Diana grimaced and Melissa became suspicious. Walking up to her, she repeated the question. "Diana, who else knows about this other than me," she said more forcefully.

"Well, maybe Cassie," the other woman said.

"That's not so bad," Melissa said. "I mean, you two are best friends and you're practically sisters. Better sisters than Cassie and Faye make," she added.

Again, she caught the quick flash that disappeared from Diana's face as quickly as it had appeared. Her friend was hiding more from her. "Cassie's not the only one, is she?"

"I might have had to have told Faye about it," Diana said bracing for impact. She was shocked to see Melissa throw herself backwards into the computer chair. "Are you okay?"

"How long have they known?" Melissa finally looked Diana in the eyes. "The whole time?"

Diana's eyes swelled with tears and her breathing became shaky. Nodding, her breath hitched and she struggled to gain her composure. "I'm sorry. We had to use a spell in order to be able to hide his paternity; a deception spell," she explained, "so that Adam would never find out."

"And because the circle was bound," Melissa said more for herself than her friend, "you needed other witches for it to work. And since it was a deception spell you needed to keep it balanced, which means no more than three members of the circle and no less could know. Half of us had to be in the light and the rest in the dark."

"I'm sorry," Diana whispered. "But I couldn't risk Adam knowing."

Melissa was strangely calm and detached. "Why Faye? I mean, I understand Cassie, but why not me or Jake?"

"Well, Cassie had her own secret to hide so we couldn't use Jake and Faye's magic is strong. Almost as strong as Cassie's."

"What do you mean, Cassie had her own secret? Diana, what aren't you telling me?"

* * *

><p>Celeste and Mark met Phoebe at the high school for the fall festival event they had all volunteered to do. Grey was supposed to pick them up but he hadn't shown up or called any of them to let them know that he wasn't going to be able to make it so they were running late.<p>

Celeste had to admit that she liked Chance Harbor. It wasn't her home; that would always be Long Island with her mom but finally getting the chance to get to know the rest of her family and the circle was surprisingly nice—with the exception of Margaux—and she was glad that her mom would be visiting in the next couple of months.

The blonde liked the old fashioned traditions the town kept and so when Phoebe had asked her to volunteer for the fall festival committee she had agreed. It was a whole social season of hay rides and haunted houses, apple picking and crafts, something she didn't do a whole lot back home.

Tonight was a craft night, and Celeste could see Chance Harbor's magical roots as the volunteers taught the community how to make totems and poppets using local plant life and herbs and spices. Celeste was showing a group of middle schoolers how to make women out of corn husks as a symbol for wisdom.

Afterwards, Celeste moved to the snack table and poured herself a cup of hot apple cider where Mark and Phoebe stood awkwardly not saying a word to each other. "Could you guys pretend to get along for two minutes? I feel like I'm sinking with the titanic," she said, "since you're being so glacial to one another."

She had barely caught the exchange between them when the gym doors suddenly slammed shut and Greyson came stalking toward them.

"Hey, Grey. You're a little late—"

Grey pulled her into his arms and kissed her, leaving a strange herbal taste in her mouth. Phoebe and Mark just looked stunned and then Mark was lying flat on his ass; Grey had stopped kissing her to turn and punch him directly in the middle of his face, while Celeste's eyes remained closed as she gloried in the kiss that had ended too shortly.

Phoebe let out a gasp and fell over Mark to make sure that he wasn't hurt too badly. "Grey! What the hell is wrong with you," she exploded at him.

The entire room was watching and waiting to see what was going to happen. Well, they didn't have to wait long because Grey was in the mood for revenge and a show.

"What the hell is wrong with me," he laughed and turned to face the audience. "Maybe it's the fact that my best friend and whore of a girlfriend are fucking each other behind my back," he yelled and the audience gasped at all the right parts.

"Who needs enemies with friends like you," Grey's voice boomed right before he left the same way he appeared.

Phoebe could hear all of the whispers and accusations muttered throughout the room, but none of it was as bad as what happened next.

"You three," a loud voice barked. "My office now," she said and Diana stormed out of the cafeteria while Melissa looked at her daughter with an unforgiving face before following her friend.

Celeste helped her cousin off the floor and Mark ushered Phoebe to the Principal's office. While he tried to console her he noticed that her eyes were on everyone else in the room, even though she was the only one he was concerned about. For the first time during this whole thing started, Mark had the feeling that he had made a giant mistake.

* * *

><p><em>Cassie ran her fingers through Jake's hair ever so gently. They had made love twice and both times had been absolutely perfect. She was glad that their on-again off-again relationship had finally been solidified into something more permanent, though Cassie knew the blame lied with her for it taking so long. <em>

_It had been two years since she had taken the elixir with Adam, and while Jake had been there to comfort her the blonde hadn't exactly been open to his advances while she was being forced to love Adam from afar, knowing that he would never love her again. _

_Still, he had worn her down time and again, the only obstacle being herself. Now she was done running to him only to push him away. It wasn't as if Jake hadn't proved his devotion to her, because he wouldn't have put up with so much if he didn't love her. And that was why she loved him; because Jake would never allow magic to come between them. Cassie had 100% faith that no matter what happened, Jake would find a way back to her._


End file.
